


Reclaiming

by teamchaosprez



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Depression, F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 03:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18295727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: Shiho gets discharged from the hospital, and Ann comes over.





	Reclaiming

**Author's Note:**

> i love them very much

The day she was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital, the sun was shining and the temperature was warm. Spring had begun warming into summer, and she was glad to finally be going home after nearly two months stuck in a hospital room, receiving care for both her mental and physical recovery. Shiho had never been so happy to change into a dress she owned, take a deep breath of city air without a nurse at her side commenting on whatever the people passing by were doing or looked like. She hadn’t been in this good a mood since before her suicide attempt, and while she knew that trauma wouldn’t fade easily from her mind - the nurses and doctors in the psych ward made sure to gently tell her that often - but she couldn’t wait to get back on track with her life.

Her mother talked to her as they walked to the train station, telling her that she would be transferred to another school to try and separate her from the trauma she had suffered and get her a fresh start on life. The first thought Shiho had was one of hesitance - Ann was her only friend, and she wasn’t sure what she would do without her even if the model had been telling her about her new friends - but the thought of returning to that school or walking past what used to be Kamoshida’s office filled her with dread. She grimaced and tried to make herself smaller and more covered up just thinking about it.

Shiho clutched her phone in her right hand, not wanting to let it go after going months without it - her parents had made sure that it was charged up for when it could finally be returned to its owner. She didn’t want to open it while she was walking, well aware that she didn’t want to trip over something and have to go right back to the hospital she just left. As soon as she and her mother had boarded a train and she was seated, though, she pulled out her phone and texted her best friend.

_ SUZUI SHIHO: ann!!! im out of the hospital!!! _

_ SUZUI SHIHO: do u want to meet? _

_ SUZUI SHIHO: im switching schools but we arent moving or anything so we can still meet up after school and stuff all the time _

_ SUZUI SHIHO: also i want to meet ur new friends asap now that my mom cant control who i see _

The smile on her face widened as she stared at her friend’s contact information. Things would have to change, but she had faith that her friendship with Ann could stay mostly the same. They only had each other for their first couple years of high school, so it made her a little worried that Ann was finding new people and making new friends, but surely she would find new friends at her new school. Even if their friendship did change, though, that didn’t mean it had to end. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she opened it once again to find the text she was hoping for.

_ TAKAMAKI ANN: OMG!!!! _

_ TAKAMAKI ANN: I’m so happy youre out. Freedom! _

_ TAKAMAKI ANN: My friends are busy rn but we can figure out a time for you to meet them later.  _

_ TAKAMAKI ANN: Are you heading back to your house? I’ll finish up the homework I’m working on and walk over soon. Maybe I can spend the night too :p _

_ SUZUI SHIHO: yea!!! im gonna be there for the rest of the day and i bet my mom will feel more comfortable leaving me at home if you’re here too _

_ SUZUI SHIHO: i’ll see u soon! <3 _

It wasn’t that her mother had much of a choice in leaving her home alone while she went to work regardless; they had been struggling for money since her father left a few years before, so she couldn’t exactly afford to skip more shifts at work than she already had while Shiho was in the hospital. She already felt bad enough about all the stress she’d put her mother through, though, so it would be ideal for Ann to come over not just because it would stave off loneliness, but also because it would alleviate some pressure from her mind. “Hey, Mom, Ann is going to come over and stay with me while you’re at work.”

As she expected, some pressure left her mother’s face and shoulders and a small smile appeared on her face. “That sounds like fun. You guys haven’t been able to have a sleepover since you had to start staying in the hospital. Just make sure you don’t stay up too late and don’t make a big mess of the apartment, okay? Clean up after yourself, don’t do anything too crazy in the kitchen…”

“Yeah, Mom, I know. I promise when you get home everything will be just like you left it.” Shiho had a bright smile on her face as she leaned on her mother’s shoulder for just a moment before straightening out and opening her phone once more. She scrolled through her social media timelines through the rest of the train ride home, occasionally looking up and glancing around the other people on the train. She wondered if any of them had gone through similar trauma and mental health struggles that she had. One thing she learned while in the hospital was that depression and trauma were more common than a lot of society would have one think; people just hide it for productivity.

It was kind of sad, if she was being honest. She wondered if anyone near her was feeling the same despair she did when she jumped off the roof. Thinking about it was enough to make her mood drop until they got to the station nearest to home.

She followed her mother as she got up and moved through a crowd of people; it was getting late into the evening, so the rush of people going home from work wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it was still enough to get her a little bit overwhelmed. Stepping into the neighborhood she had lived her entire life, though, she was relieved. Her life could finally go back to some shred of normalcy, albeit with a few big changes. She could finally feel like she was just like everyone else instead of like a crazy person locked up in the hospital. She couldn’t help but pick up the pace as she walked down the street to the apartment building she’d lived in since she was a baby, excited to hang out with her best friend.

The apartment was exactly the same as it had been when she started staying in the hospital, slightly messy because its inhabitants didn’t have much time to clean up and with the odd sweatshirt or pair of shoes laying on the couch or floor. Practically bouncing with excitement, Shiho rushed back into her room and collapsed back onto her bed, letting out a sigh and closing her eyes.

Without even meaning to, she must have drifted off to sleep, because when she woke up again the red light of a sunset was streaming in through the window and Ann had jumped on top of her in a tight hug. A little disoriented, she blinked her eyes open and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend.

“Sorry for waking you up,” Ann spoke sheepishly, but didn’t move from the tight embrace so that Shiho could see her face. Maybe that was a good thing, because the former volleyball player’s face had lit up a bright red for reasons she didn’t completely understand. Maybe she was just overheating from a combination of the room’s summertime stuffiness and Ann laying on top of her like a blanket?

“No, it’s okay,” Shiho responded, hoping it wasn’t as obvious as it was to her that she was sleepy and not fully there. She pulled herself up on her elbows, grunting slightly as she supported Ann’s weight on her upper body. As she backed up against the wall behind her bed to support her back, she went back to hugging Ann tightly, burying her face in her friend’s hair and letting out a soft sigh. “I know you came to see me a lot, but… I still feel like I missed you.” 

“Yeah, no, I understand,” Ann sighed, and Shiho could feel her head shift under her chin. She moved her head back and looked down at her friend; the model had a wistful smile on her face, some tears visible in her eyes as she looked up at the other girl. Shiho’s cheeks turned a little redder, and she was so overwhelmed by a feeling of affection in her chest that she needed to look away. She heard a soft laugh from the other girl, and she couldn’t keep her face from heating up even further. “Why are you blushing so much? Do you like me?” Ann asked in a tone that sounded only half teasing, her finger gently poking Shiho’s cheek as she fought down the urge to scream.

Did she like Ann? For as long as they had been friends, she could remember getting flustered whenever she was hanging out with her, and she found herself thinking about her probably a little more than normal with the exception of while she was in the hospital and had other things on her mind. Maybe that was why it was hitting her so hard just now - she hadn’t really had the time or the mental willpower to really feel what she usually felt for the last couple months.

She looked down at her friend’s big blue eyes again, finding them filled with what she recognized after years of knowing Ann as hope, and realized that, oh god, she did like her best friend. She liked her a lot. But was it even possible for Ann to like her in return? How could  _ anybody _ like her after what happened to her just a couple months ago? Maybe it wasn’t a very rational thought, but it was enough to tank her mood down to rock bottom and let anxiety start to build up in her chest. She had been used, she was dirtied, even if Ann did like her she probably deserved somebody better, somebody like her that managed to keep herself from getting manipulated and pinned down and-

She couldn’t breathe. She needed to breathe. Shiho squirmed her way out from underneath Ann and collapsed heavily onto the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and struggling to breathe. She forgot completely that she was in her room; she wasn’t remembering, she could barely think, the panic was overwhelming in her mind. She could hear Ann moving to the floor next to her, but all sound was muffled in her overwhelmed mind.

“Hey, Shiho, hey, it’s okay.” Gentle hands clutched her shoulders, grounding her in reality just enough to let her look to her friend. The familiarity of Ann’s face was enough to calm her just a little, remind her that she was safe and the other girl would never let anything happen to her. “You’re safe, you’re okay with me. I promise. It’s going to be okay.” Her voice was soft and caring, and it was enough to help Shiho calm down and bring her breathing back down to normal.

“Sorry,” she gasped out as she brought herself back down to a normal breathing rate. Ann shook her head and pulled her into a gentle hug; Shiho rested her head against the other girl’s shoulders and closed her eyes, feeling tired all over again but significantly calmer. “I…” she hesitated for just a moment, considering whether she should actually say what she was thinking, but decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to leave Ann hanging after the question she asked. “I do like you. As more than a friend. But I… I doubt you want me after… after everything.”

“Shiho…” Ann’s voice was soft and sad as she gently cupped Shiho’s cheek with one hand, making the former volleyball player look up at her. “I like you, too. What happened to you could never change how I think of you, as a friend or as someone I like. It wasn’t your fault. You were targeted by somebody sick and evil who thought that one person saying no meant he could go after somebody else. Please don’t ever think that it was your fault.”

Emotion bubbled up in Shiho’s throat, and she tightened her grip around the other girl, sniffling and trying to hold sobs down. Ann hesitated for a moment, running a hand through her hair. “Can I kiss you?” the model asked softly.

“Yes.”

The two girls pulled apart for a moment, until Ann leaned forward to press their lips together. Shiho’s heart rate increased, but this time not because of panic; this time, it was because she was happy. She leaned forward into the kiss, her eyes drifting closed as she could feel the corners of Ann’s lips twitch upward against hers. The former volleyball player only pulled away because she needed to breathe, a bright smile on her face once again. “Does this mean we’re girlfriends now?” she asked, a little shyly, and Ann laughed gently, resting their foreheads together once again.

“I guess it does.”

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed!


End file.
